Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 101 Punishment

The moment the official announced his position, all the villagers surrounding the Gu Family dispersed in shock, turning to gaze upon the five men atop their majestic tall horses.

"Oh, they are all dressed in official uniforms. They are indeed officials." The villagers murmured quietly among themselves as they continued to cautiously step back, fearful of offending the dignitaries.

Old Master Lu, hearing this commotion and laying eyes upon the elder atop the red horse, was also startled. He recognized only a few county government officials and did not know the identity of this elder. He hurriedly stepped forward, bowing his hands in greeting: "My surname is Lu, a relative of the County Governor. May I inquire as to which official this distinguished brother is and what position he holds?"

A middle-aged man, dressed in official garb and with a large waist knife, barked angrily from behind the elder, "How daring of you, a mere commoner, to address our Lord County Captain as your brother?"

He then interrogated Old Master Lu, "What relative of the County Governor? We’ve heard no such thing about the County Governor having relatives in Da Feng Village. Are you perhaps impersonating an official’s relative?"

Immediately, the middle-aged man’s brow furrowed with cold anger as he exclaimed, "Impersonating an official’s relative is a grave crime. Seize this old man and bring him to the county government for questioning."

However, County Captain Jiang blocked the middle-aged man and looked at Old Master Lu, saying, "I remember now. County Magistrate Zou does indeed have a country kin, but they are not proper relatives, merely parents of a concubine."

He then questioned Old Master Lu, "Are you the father of that concubine?"

Old Master Lu’s face flushed with shame, but he could not deny it, replying, "Yes."

Upon his admission, the four men behind County Captain Jiang burst into raucous laughter: "Haha, so it turns out to be the family of a concubine. Does a concubine even have a family? As far as I’m aware, all of County Magistrate Zou’s concubines are maids who signed servitude contracts; their life and death belong to County Magistrate Zou’s family. What kind of family would they have? And where did this so-called relative come from?"

The four men’s voices rang out as loud as County Captain Jiang’s, so that everyone could hear. The villagers started whispering among themselves, with the older folks telling the young ones, "What these officials say is right. That Lu Meihua was indeed originally a maid of the County Governor’s family. It was only after she became pregnant and gave birth to a son that she became a concubine."

"What Lu Meihua? She is now called Lian’er, a name personally given by the County Governor..."

The villagers’ discussions were rampant, and Old Master Lu’s face turned even a deeper shade of red, but he didn’t dare to offend the Lord County Captain, let alone the County Governor, who wouldn’t dare to provoke him easily.

The County Captain held the same eighth-rank assistant officer’s position as the County Magistrate.

The County Magistrate was responsible for the county’s paperwork, household registration archives, warehousing, grain, and tax collection.

The County Captain, on the other hand, was in charge of the soldiers, managing the county’s military force and government officials, and was responsible for capturing criminals and maintaining order.

As for the garrison army, there were none in the county itself; they were only stationed in camps outside the Prefecture.

And since County Captain Jiang came from a military background and commanded the county’s military force, he was known to be fierce, and the Lu Family dared not offend him.

Scholar Shang heard County Captain Jiang’s loud voice and came out to greet him, bowing: "Your humble son-in-law greets his father-in-law."

Upon seeing Scholar Shang, County Captain Jiang immediately dismounted his horse, feigning a hand to assist him, and asked, "My dear son-in-law, has the Lu Family given you any trouble?"

If the Lu Family dared to bully his son-in-law, he, Jiang Dahu, would definitely tear down the Lu Family and split open the gates of County Magistrate Zou’s home.

County Captain Jiang was immensely satisfied with Scholar Shang as his son-in-law.

He had been old friends with Scholar Shang’s father. After his daughter Xue Niang married Scholar Shang, she had remained childless for ten years. Yet, Scholar Shang had not taken a concubine and even comforted Xue Niang, saying the issue of offspring was not solely her fault, and he shared the responsibility.

He insisted that if they were capable of having children, they would have them; if not, there was no need to force it. If Xue Niang desired children, they could adopt one from either the Shang Family Clan or the Jiang Family.

Upon learning of this, County Captain Jiang was deeply touched and grew even more fond of this son-in-law, finding him not only knowledgeable and scholarly but now wished to treat him as his own son.

Thus, when Old Luo brought word of the Lu Family’s connection to County Magistrate Zou, knowing that the Lu Family might not be easy to deal with, he personally led his men and horses to the scene.

At this moment, the families involved finally realized that this Scholar was the very same one they had heard of, the one with the peculiar temper who had won the Fortune and Auspicious Lamp at Fugui Building, who was also the son-in-law of the Lord County Captain.

This is truly...

Third Grandpa was so excited that his hands trembled, he hurriedly brought several families in front of County Captain Jiang and bowed in respect: "Humble commoner pays homage to Lord County Captain."

County Captain Jiang waved his hand grandly: "Rise, rise, there is nothing worth such formalities. Who is the one who saved my granddaughter? Step forward and let this old man have a look."

Scholar Shang pointed at Gu Jinli with a smile and said: "It is this young benefactor right here."

Gu Jinli stepped forward and said to County Captain Jiang: "I dare not claim the title of benefactor, it was merely a small aid given along the way."

Upon hearing this, County Captain Jiang, who had been worried that this family would leverage their deed for reward, now felt relieved: "The help you provided was not trivial at all, Yuanyuan is the treasured pearl of our Jiang Family and the Shang Family. By saving Yuanyuan, you have saved both our families."

County Captain Jiang was one to fiercely protect his own, so he took the opportunity to shout to the villagers present: "Let all listen to the official here, the Gu Family are the saviors of this official’s life. Whoever dares to trouble them, this official will not let them off!"

The villagers had already been shaken by the news of Gu Jinli saving the County Captain’s granddaughter and upon hearing his words, they hastened to say: "No, we dare not bully... we are all villagers here."

County Captain Jiang snorted coldly: "You’d better remember the words you said today."

In the midst of speaking, the group that had lagged behind finally caught up.

To their surprise, there were soldiers armed with guns and knives, carrying arrow bags on their backs, and there were as many as fifty of them!

Seeing this group of soldiers, the villagers were even more frightened, shrinking in on themselves, not daring to look up.

Old Master Lu was so scared that he was about to faint. County Captain Jiang had actually brought the county’s garrison army with him, it seemed certain that his third son was going to be taken to the county seat.

Now he could only hope his youngest daughter had the capability to persuade County Magistrate Zou to help their Lu Family, otherwise, the Lu Family feared they would be ruined.

County Captain Jiang, seeing that his troops had arrived, pointed toward the Gu Family’s courtyard and ordered: "Go and bring the criminals inside to the county for the official."

"Yes!" The soldiers responded and charged into the Gu Family’s courtyard, escorting out Lu Laosan and others.

Lu Laosan had been scared stupid by now, only He Dacai and a few other ruffians were still crying and shouting: "Injustice, injustice, my lord, it was all compelled by the Lu Family; we were just hired muscles for some Silver Coins..."

The soldiers did not pay any heed to them, and directly escorted them out.

As for Old Master Lu, County Captain Jiang did not let him off either, accusing him with a perfectly justified crime: "Daring to lead family members to obstruct government officers from executing their duties, that’s a grave sin. Capture him for the official."

The other soldiers rushed up and bound Old Master Lu along with more than thirty Lu Family members.

These thirty-something Lu Family People were all male members of the family. Such an arrest was an absolute catastrophe for the Lu Family.

The Lu Family’s women all cried bitterly begging for mercy, but with just a few intimidating sounds, the soldiers unsheathed their waist knives, and they were all scared into silence.

County Captain Jiang said to Third Grandpa: "This matter needs to be brought to trial; your families should send a few men to follow us to the county seat to resolve this matter."

After discussing with Elder Qin for a while, Third Grandpa decided to lead Gu Dashan, Gu Damu, and Father Luo to the prefecture, while the rest would stay home and wait for news.

And because County Captain Jiang worried that the Lu Family People might trouble the Gu Family again, he left ten soldiers to guard Da Feng Village before he left with Lu Laosan and the others.

Scholar Shang was worried about his wife and daughter at home and did not go with them to the county seat, but he went back to his home instead. He said he would come again tomorrow, and if the Gu Family needed any help, they could seek his aid.

The ten soldiers didn’t stay at the edge of the village but were arranged by Village Chief He to stay at the village chief’s house.

Gu Jinli thought this incident would cause an uproar for a long time, but in just two days, Lu Laosan was sentenced.